Method of making mounting elements with plaster ears



METHOD OF MAKING MbUN'IING ELEMENTS WITH PLAS'I'ER EARS Filed Oct. 8, 1929 /i m /i 67 //7 3,2 I 7 q E// 9 JW 9- m W 5,

INVENTOR BENJAMIN C.WEBSTER ay L219 aZZarneys WWW Patented Nov. 18, 1930' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRIC comm, OI BBIDGIPORT, moor CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION 01 (DR- m!) 0] KING IOUNTIHG 'WI'I'E rmsm ms Application fi led October 8,

' The subject of this invention is the making of what are spoken of as paster ears used principally with supporting or mounting elements such as the yo es an ears which 5 are employed to mount electrical fittin switches, receptacles and the like in the wa ls of buildings. The. yoke or the car, as the case may be, is secured enerally to the base of the fitting and is held y screws to the outlet box put 1n the wall in the course of building it. The plaster ears rest on the plaster and thus locate the fittin in a plane parallel 1 to the wall regardless o whetheror not the outlet box is properly set.

It has been the practice for some time to provide these plaster ears forthe supporting elements used with electrical fittings and a common t pc is that illustrated in-the Patents Nos. 1,56 ,863 and 1,567 864. These have been made by cutting the desired shape from a sheet of metal at least as wide as the width of the final ears with the necessary incident that a great deal of metal has been wasted unless utilized for another purpose.

According to the present invention, the

stock used is no wider than the shank of the yoke or ear and is what may be termed strap stock, being thin and narrow. It is the sort of stock ordinarily used when no such stock is cut to a suitable length with a slit formed in its ends along the long axis' of the piece. The two end parts thus formed are then bent around in opposite directions through about 90 in the plane of the piece to form the flat sidewise extensions or plaster ears. The article produced therefore differs from known articles having plaster ears in that it is made of ordinary strap stock, the ears consisting of spread apart end portions of apiece of such stock.

The details of this method may be learned b reference to the accompanying draw' figs,

i ure 1 of which shows a piece of stock, at and of the width and-thickness usual with these elements, and cut preparator for bendin Figure 2 shows a complete yoke.

lhe usual threaded holes 10 for receiving the screws that attach the yoke to the base and the larger holes 11 for the screws holdplaster ears are to be present. A piece of.

1m. Serial Io. 808,1l1.

ing a face plate in place are preferably formed at the same time that the cuts are made to facilitate the formation of the ears. The slits 12 in the ends may be made at the same time.and also it is desirable to cut notches 13 in the side edges of the piece of stock 14 one posite sides near the inner end of the 'slit. V-notch will suflice and other shapes are possible but it is found to be most satisfactory to form thenotches as shown here with a convex curve 15 on the side toward the bod of the piece and a concave curve 16 at t e side toward the end. The two curves could be reversed, of course, if

desired and the concave side then would be toward the body of the piece and the convex side toward the end.

The two end parts 17, 18, thus formed by the slit, are then s read apart by being bent outwardly throug 90 in the plane of the piece from which the element is being formed. By the plane of the piece 18 meant, of course, the lane of the faces of the piece to distinguish rom the possible bendmg at right angles to the .plane of the piece or substantially so. The characteristic of the bending is that it is edgewise and any bending involving that, either alone or conjointly with. a bending in. some other direction, embodies this invention if thereby plaster ears are formed. While in most cases it is desirable that the piece, with the ears formed, lie flat, -it maybe that a bending involving some variance from that will occur, and that is not to be deemed excluded by the langua used here. For instance the end arts con (1 be spread apart by being bent bot edgewise and away from the exact plane of the piece to form the plaster ears in the form of claw feet. The curved edges of the notches come close together, when the parts are bent around, due to their being cut in the shape described above which gives not only a more nearly solid appearance to the completed article but also a minimum. of resistance to the bending.

The stamping of the piece to the shape desired, to fit any particular device to be mounted, may precede the formation of the plaster ears or may follow it. This is.a matter of convenience however and is no part of the invention. In making these mounting elements in quantity it is preferable to use, for the stampm punching and cutting operations a sing e machine including a stamp, a punch and a cutter in a three gang arrangement. The strap stock is fed through the machine and the three operations are performed simultaneously on three successive parts which are to form three complete mounting elements. The order in which these operations occur is a matter which each maker may choose for himself as the adaptation of gang machines of known types to this particular work presents no serious difliculties to those familiar with such machines. The end parts formed by the slit may be formed into plaster ears by any suitable spreading tool which can enter the slit and bend the parts edgewise. This operation, which may precede or'may follow the sha ing of the piece, can be done with the piece eld horizontally or vertically but the former is preferred.

It is Worthy of note that in punching the slits it is possible to do that operation for two elements at once by punching a slit double the length of that needed for one. In this case the stock .is cut at the mid-point of this double length slit in severing the piece from the length of stock. It is to be understood therefore that where the claims mention the formation of a slit in the end of a piece of stock it is the intention to cover a slitting either before or after the piece is severed from the full lengthof stock. In other words the art in which the slit is formed is that which is to be the end of the piece when severed and it may be so termed before the severing.

The method for making a plaster ear on a mounting ear or other element of like function is t e same as that just described with reference to the making of a yoke. Difierent ways of accomplishing the several steps may be utilized in practicing the method and steps ma be combined or reversed in order while sti availing of the basic thought of this invention. I wish therefore to include, within the range of protection afforded by a patent, all methods and articles which come within the substantial scope of the following claims.

I claim' 1. The method of making a plaster ear on a mounting element which comprises forming a slit in the end of a piece of strap stock, notching the piece in its side edges in the region of the inner end of the slit and bending an end part, thus formed by the slit, outwardly substantially in the plane of the piece.

2. The method of making plaster ears on a mounting-element which comprises forming a slit in the end of a piece of strap stock,

' notching the piece in its side edges in. the

region of the inner end of the slit, and bending the and parts, thus formed by the slit,

outwardly substantially in the plane of the plece.

3. The method of making plaster ears on a mounting element which comprises forr'nin a slit in the end of a iece of strap stock an notches with one si e convex and another concave in the side edges of the piece near the 

